Tongue strap

ABSTRACT

A tongue strap for animals comprising a long, narrow flexible band, preferably of rubberoid material, formed with a first transverse slot near one end, a second transverse slot farther from that end and a third transverse slot still farther from that end, the other end of the band being threaded through the first slot from the inside to the outside to form a first adjustable loop to enwrap the animal&#39;&#39;s tongue, and the one end of the band being threaded through the third slot from the outside to the inside and then through the second slot from the inside to the outside and then being brought into and secured in mating relation to the other end of the band to form a second adjustable loop to enwrap the lower jaw of the animal.

United States Patent [1 1 Hughes TONGUE STRAP [76] Inventor: Richard E.Hughes, Frederick St.,

Jeffersonville, lnd. 47130 [22] Filed: Jan. 22, 1973 [21] Appl. No.:325,947

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 594,201 1 1/1897 Frothingham2/338 X Primary ExaminerLouis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner-J. N.Eskovitz Attorney-Harold B. l-lood 5/1965 Shin'od 119/96 X Dec. 4, 1973v [5 1 ABSTRACT A tongue strap for animals comprising a long, narrowflexible band, preferably of rubberoid material, formed with a firsttransverse slot near one end, a second transverse slot farther from thatend and a third transverse slot still farther from that end, the otherend of the band being threaded through the first slot from the inside tothe outside to form a first adjustable.

loop to enwrap the animals tongue, and the one end of the band beingthreaded through the third slot from the outside to the inside and thenthrough the second slot from the inside to the outside and then beingbrought into and secured in mating relation to the other end of the bandto form a second adjustable loop to enwrap the lower jaw of the animal.

4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures TONGUE STRAP The present invention relatesto a tongue strap for animals, and primarily for untrained horses. Ayoung and untrained horse will frequently fight, and seek to eject, thebit which is placed in his mouth and to which the bridle is attached.Sometimes he actually succeeds in ejecting the bit; but even more oftenhis struggles will result in injury to his own tongue. In traininghorses, then, it is desirable so to restrain the animals tongue that hecannot use it to push against the bit; and the primary object of thepresent invention is to provide a strap constructed, arranged anddesigned to accomplish that function.

Further objects of the invention will appear as the descriptionproceeds.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, this inventionmay be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings,attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings areillustrative only, and that change may be made in the specificconstruction illustrated and described, so long as the scope of theappended claims is not violated.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan of a flexible band constituting the major element of myinvention and embodying my invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the tongue strap in the conditionin which it is offered for sale to users;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the strap as threaded andsecured for use;

FIG. 4 is a reduced, somewhat diagrammatic section through the tongueand lower jaw of a horse and showing the tongue strap in use position;and

FIG. 5 is an illustration of the head of a horse wearing the tonguestrap of the present invention.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the reference numeralindicates generally the body of a tongue strap constructed in accordancewith the invention. Said body comprises a long, narrow, flexible band 11tapered at one end 12 and provided at its other end 13 with a tab 29adapted to be folded back upon the body of the band to mount a buckle 14or other equivalent fastening means. In the illustrated embodiment, theend 12 of the band is provided with a plurality of longitudinally spacedholes 15 for selective cooperation with the tang of the buckle l4.

Near said one end 12, the band 11 is formed with a first transverse slot16 through which, as is clearly illustrated in FIG. 2, the end 13 of theband is adapted to be threaded from the inside to the outside to form afirst loop 23. For obvious reasons, this threading is performed beforethe buckle 14 is mounted on the band end 13 and the tab 29 is foldedback and secured in place, after a retaining ring 30 is sleeved on theband end.

Farther from the end 12, the band is formed with a second transverseslot 17 and, still farther from said end, the band is formed with athird transverse slot 18.

Since the length of the slot 16 must be somewhat greater than the widthof the section of the band, and the length of the slots 17 and 18 mustbe somewhat greater than the width of the body section 19, the band bodyis widened, as shown, in the region of each of said slots.

' In use, the pre-formed loop 23 is slipped over the end of the horsestongue and moved back to a point near the proximal end of the horsesmouth. Either before or after so positioning the loop, the section 19 ofthe band will be threaded inwardly through the slot 18 and thenoutwardly through the slot 17. Now, the band section 20 will be pulledthrough the slot 16 to tighten the loop 23 comfortably about the horsestongue 25 and the band sections 19 and 20 will be swung downwardly oneither side of the horses lower jaw 26 until their ends are broughttogether, the end 12 will be threaded through the buckle and thesections 19 and 20 will be drawn up into relatively tight embracingrelation with the jaw.

Thus, the horses tongue 25 will be closely tethered against movementaway from the bottom of his mouth and against withdrawal of its distaltip to a point behind a bit (not shown) whereby the horse might struggleto dislodge the bit.

It will be seen that, because the section 20 of the band is slidablyreceived in the slot 16, the size of the loop 23 is adjustable.Likewise, the size of the loop 24 is adjustable through the medium ofthe buckle 14 with its tang selectively enterable in the plural holes15. Any other suitable adjustable fastening means may, of course, beprovided to secure together the ends 12 and 13 of the band. It will beseen that the intermediate band section 22 will underlie the horsestongue.

Any suitable material may be used for the band, but I presently prefer asynthetic rubber.

In one physical embodiment of my invention which has been successfullyused, the band body is approximately one-sixteenth inch thick andfive-eighths inch wide except in the regions of the slots where thewidth is 1% inch. Each slot is one-eighth inch in width andthree-fourths inch in length. The section 19 from its tapered tip to thecenter line of the slot 16 is 6% inches long, the section 21 from thecenter line of the slot 16 to the center line of the slot 17 is 4%inches long, the section 22 between the center lines of the slots 17 and18 is 1% inches long and the section 20 from the center line of the slot18 to the fold retaining the buckle 14 is 9% inches long. I have foundthat these dimensions are such that a device so constructed may beefiectively used on almost any size horse.

I claim as my invention:

1. A tongue strap for animals comprising a long, narrow, flexible band,said band being formed with only a first, a second and a thirdtransverse slot, each slot being proportioned and designed to receiveand pass a portion of the length of said band, said first slot beingdisposed nearer to one end than to the other end of said band and saidother end of said band passing through said first slot from the insideto the outside of said band to form a first loop, said one end of saidband then passing from the outside to the inside of said band and intosaid loop through said third slot and from the inside to the outside ofsaid band through said second slot, and cooperative fastening means tojoin said ends to form a second loop.

2. The tongue strap of claim 1 in which said first loop is proportionedand designed to surround the animals tongue, the band portions disposedbetween said second and third slots are proportioned and designed tounderlie the tongue, and said second loop surrounds the animals lowerjaw.

3. The tongue strap of claim 2 in which said fastening means isadjustable whereby the sizes of said loops respectively may be adjusted.

4. The tongue strap of claim 1 wherein the portions of said bandextending from said third slot to said one end and from said first slotto said other end are narrower than the portions of the band whereinsaid slots are formed.

1. A tongue strap for animals comprising a long, narrow, flexible band,said band being formed with only a first, a second and a thirdtransverse slot, each slot being proportioned and designed to receiveand pass a portion of the length of said band, said first slot beingdisposed nearer to one end than to the other end of said band and saidother end of said band passing through said first slot from the insideto the outside of said band to form a first loop, said one end of saidband then passing from the outside to the inside of said band and intosaid loop through said third slot and from the inside to the outside ofsaid band through said second slot, and cooperative fastening means tojoin said ends to form a second loop.
 2. The tongue strap of claim 1 inwhich said first loop is proportioned and designed to surround theanimal''s tongue, the band portions disposed between said second andthird slots are proportioned and designed to underlie the tongue, andsaid second loop surrounds the animal''s lower jaw.
 3. The tongue strapof claim 2 in which said fastening means is adjustable whereby the sizesof said loops respectively may be adjusted.
 4. The tongue strap of claim1 wherein the portions of said band exteNding from said third slot tosaid one end and from said first slot to said other end are narrowerthan the portions of the band wherein said slots are formed.